Without mods FO4 is basically a combination of simcity and a shooter for me. Id Tech guys probably decided to make comeback for their failed Rage game, and then Todd slapped Minecraft on top of it because why the heck not.

With mods it can flourish though

I had assumed they had used the Real Time Settler mod and the Wasteland Defense mod as their inspirations, not Minecraft? Have they actually stated that Minecraft was an inspiration? If not wouldn't it be more likely, given past precedence of them having done so, that it was those mods which inspired them, and thus the makers of those 2 mods which deserve the credit and not Minecraft?

I had assumed they had used the Real Time Settler mod and the Wasteland Defense mod as their inspirations, not Minecraft? Have they actually stated that Minecraft was an inspiration? If not wouldn't it be more likely, given past precedence of them having done so, that it was those mods which inspired them, and thus the makers of those 2 mods which deserve the credit and not Minecraft?

Yes, Todd Howard stated that the settlement building took inspiration from Minecraft:

In videos recently posted to Bethesda’s YouTube channel, game director Todd Howard talked a bit about just what those influences were. Crafting games like Minecraft have become huge in the last five years. Howard talked at length about the game’s crafting system and called out Minecraft as being a pretty obvious inspiration.

I actually uninstalled it because the replayability of it right now for me is 0. I am so bored in this game that I can't even be bothered to do the other faction quests with the save I made before doing them. I'm just not feeling it like I did with the previous 4 games... I reinstalled Skyrim and Oblivion and I think I will play them again instead.

Perhaps after DLC is out, we have a full suite of modding tools and a year of time has passed the game will be at a point that it's re-playable for me.

I had assumed they had used the Real Time Settler mod and the Wasteland Defense mod as their inspirations, not Minecraft? Have they actually stated that Minecraft was an inspiration? If not wouldn't it be more likely, given past precedence of them having done so, that it was those mods which inspired them, and thus the makers of those 2 mods which deserve the credit and not Minecraft?

Yes, Todd Howard stated that the settlement building took inspiration from Minecraft:

In videos recently posted to Bethesda’s YouTube channel, game director Todd Howard talked a bit about just what those influences were. Crafting games like Minecraft have become huge in the last five years. Howard talked at length about the game’s crafting system and called out Minecraft as being a pretty obvious inspiration.

I'm with RoyB with this game... I'm pretty bored as well. The only reason I'm wading thru it still is because I was originally born and raised in the Boston area so I'm just curious to explore and see what the game map as a whole looks like. So again I'm just exploring and pretty much ignoring any quests at this time.

Stopped playing after 60 hours, am currently doing NVB III. Here's hoping modders can collectively overhaul this game to the level of Fallout 3.

EDIT: Read the reddit threads, and now I'm half tempted to go try playing it as a shoot EVERYTHING game (probably with godmode or something) just to see if it's more interesting with as many named characters dead as possible.

I didnt until a week ago or so. So I waited one month before actually playing it.

Had many reasons, was building a new pc with Intel and Nvidia hardware, wanted to wait at least for fixes for bugs who may break the game, driver updates. Was definitely worth it waiting this month. Im not a fan of playing games on launch anyway. Im used to that they are not working anyway or have game breaking bugs... Just Cause 3 being the best example actually.

However, I spent time in Boston now and what can I say... ITS AMAZING. I really like Fallout 4 even if its partly different from FO3 or FNV. I really like the gameplay and the whole world. I feel like you find everywhere something in the world. No empty spots like in FO3 or FNV. There are many dungeons (who all dont look the same) to explore now. FO3, FNV, Skyrim had the problem that many locations and dungeons looked copy pasted. Cant really say this about FO4. Amazing! The building aspect of the game is really stunning too. I dont really mind that the character can actually speak now. The dialogues are very nice made and some companions even join the dialogues. Really cool made! The part about that you are playing a member of your family I dont really mind. Was different than usual but its nice made. The weapons are also nice. I especially like the introduction of those legendary and unique items and enemies. And when we talk about enemies or monsters in general, they are many nice in the game. What I noticed though is that some monsters were redesigned. More or less. I liked the ghouls more from FO3 and FNV. At least in the design. Here it looks like they tried to make them more zombie like. However, movements of them are great and often scares me when they jump on you and scream. Graphics are nice. Sure, nothing over the top but hey, its the Skyrim engine. I didnt expect more actually. The game runs similar to Skyrim for me. Maybe 10-20% more demanding. But this might be because the game doesnt have to render much moving plants and trees. Might be a higher FPS hit then. I can play the game completely maxed on 1080p, ultra (including Ultra Godrays), TAA Anti Aliasing. I have nearly 60FPS all the time. In a very few locations it might be 45-60FPS like big cities. But thats pretty normal for the engine. Skyrim was the same. Let us be honest, compared to the old FO3 & FNV Engine, this is an extreme improvement.

My hardware changed though. I build a completely new setup! Wanted to go with Intel and Nvidia. Now I have:

The graphicscard should have been actually a GTX 980 Ti, however, decided to save some bucks especially because I actually wanted to wait for the new Nvidia generation beginning of next year, so I might change to a GTX 1080 or something later. Until now I dont have a problem with the GTX 970. Its still a notably upgrade to my R9 280X but the processor comes more into account when it comes to performance improvement I think. I didnt had any game until now on 1080p and maximum settings with Anti Aliasing that actually had less than average 50FPS. Most demanding game was Metro Redux with all settings cranked up, SMAA, Advanced Physx. Before I had a AMD FX 8350 and a R9 280X with 8GB Ram so in performance probably similar to TJ's AMD Setup. I dont know how the game runs on this setup. I gifted it to my girlfriend. She plays Fallout 4 later probably and then I can tell.

I love playing it! Seriously! Didnt had so much fun with a game for quite some time. Cant understand the guys who are not too pleased with the game. Well, guess tastes are different even for Fallout fans like us.

At some point I will try TTW again with my new setup and some ENB Mods. Hehehe, cant await it.

Oh, I btw grabbed the Fallout Anthology Nuke collectors edition. Its really cool and is placed next to my gaming desk. I happen to click on the sound button quite often. Just loving it. Together with a Fallout 4 D1 Edition with poster. Wanted to get the Pipboy edition some months ago but didnt had any luck, well guess I have to live without it. I hate people who bought it and reselling tons of it for double the price or more. -_-

Roy Batty, I find myself agreeing with you more and more every day. I don't think even mods are going to save this and they damned sure aren't going to make it into a continuation of the "Fallout Universe" as we've come to know it. I'm sticking by my original judgement... Stalker Goes to Boston.

Quote: "Edit: After reading the entirety of your post I feel like you work for Bethesda. That is the only logical explanation."
Thanks for saying what I was thinking. My first thought on reading that post was "Bethesda Fanboy". ;)

If you guys dont like the game then stop bitching about it and play something else.Fallout 4 is still a solid game despite some quesionable decisions they made. Honestly,besides the dialogue system being garbage,the vaults being disappointing this time around and the companion AI sucking,it's a good game and a decent Fallout game.

Stopped playing after 60 hours, am currently doing NVB III. Here's hoping modders can collectively overhaul this game to the level of Fallout 3.

EDIT: Read the reddit threads, and now I'm half tempted to go try playing it as a shoot EVERYTHING game (probably with godmode or something) just to see if it's more interesting with as many named characters dead as possible.

I tried the shooting everything deal and got bored a few hours in. So many people that should be killable are essential and it's just annoying as crap. Like Mama Murphy, you can shoot her in the back with a combat shotgun and she just doesn't care. They don't even run off in flee mode like they did in FO3. Same with Sturges and the Long's. The named characters that can die are inconsequential. You might fail a side quest but the main play through seems to be exactly the same.

Hey, im not working for Bethesda. Yeah, dungeons was maybe the wrong word in the case of Fallout 4. The levels are not like in Skyrim. They just have a rough "dungeon" build up and not even all levels. But I keep saying that there are different levels which doesnt look all the same. Doesnt have as many "dungeons" as Skyrim though. Much more sight seeing locations with some loot. In Skyrim I always felt like im going through the same level... Most annoying disadvantage for me in Skyrim.

Why should I work for Bethesda. I just really enjoy and love Fallout 4 even if some guys dont. Actually it feels like a heavily modded FO3 or FNV. I can definitely see that Bethesda took a look on many famous mods. So far I dont really dislike anything. Well, exept the new view of the ghouls and the Diamond City Radio announcer. Holy Crap is this guy annoying. Why did Bethesda scrap Three Dog anyway? Or at least his voice... Yeah, I know, the announcer gets different when doing a specific quest. Still, next playthrough I probably just kill him, hope that stops his announcements and news. Anybody up for a Three Dog Radio Station Mod? Or maybe he comes back in some DLC. Lets hope.

And even more proof Im not a Bethesda Fanboy, I hate Elder Scrolls actually. Skyrim was the only good TES one for me. Morrowind and Oblivion were simply not my taste. Fallout 3 was the first real game from Bethesda I liked and then followed Fallout NV and Skyrim. FNV was not really by Bethesda though. Obsidian.

I really enjoy Fallout since the third installment. Fallout 1 & 2 were ok but that was it for me back then. The change with Fallout 3 was amazing for me and probably its one of my most loved games until today. Fallout 1 & 2 I still recommend for the Story. Wouldnt mind having them remade in FO3/NV Engine or Creation Engine. Some modders seem to work on it.

I was testing my key binding/UI mod today and I shot someone in Diamond City. As you expect the town when hostile, I had Piper with me and after killing a few more locals she decided she didn't Love me any more and was going to kill me!

I took out a lot of the Diamond City Locals and went after Piper! Well She couldn't die even if she turns on you so I had and un-killable NPC. I kept knocking her down with my Explosive 10mm but she just kept coming back!

Doesn't that sound fun? I'm just glad I was only testing a mod and didn't get stuck in that situation while playing.

@Postal-Dude, TJ was joking that is why he said "On a more serious note" after it.

@Everyone else, remember people have different tastes, so make posts disagreeing with each other if you want but please do not start a flame war (preventive note ).

I noticed Postal-Dude that you have been playing for a week now or so, many people only started to see most shortcomings in the game maybe after twice as long as that, specially the replayability of the game, since the player can't deviate from that specific story and the side quests are most repetitive and boring (for some people) and other things.

So I will wait for the "new shiny" effect to stop and for your updated opinion later, if you change it its fine, if you still have the same opinion it is fine too, I just want people to share theirs around here.

Since I can't play FO4 yet I am always interested in knowing what people have to say about it.

Just as a counterpoint to the gloom: I really like the game. This after 116 hours, after finishing the MQ with one char and starting a new play through with another. It's definitely the game of the year for me (which perhaps doesn't say so much as I didn't like any other game). I was quite taken by the ending in my first play through - it actually made me a bit depressed as I basically felt like I had messed up the entire world. That in itself is rather impressive IMO - that the story in a game can affect me so much. So I'm doing my second play through and will try to get an ending that is better suited for my char.

Anyway, I could list dozens of things that I'm annoyed by and/or don't like, but generally I love it, plus it seems to have great replayability as my second play through basically is like a new game so far, plus I think the level design is the best by Bethesda yet, with excellent interconnectivity, which makes it possible to have lots of different approaches when doing "dungeons" etc.

Well The BoS guy Forget his name in the police station makes a big deal about me getting power armor!!!! All I could think when he said that was "Hell! I have 5 suites of PA stashed around my settlements, why is boS PA so special?"

I have already found several Power Armors too at Random hidden locations.

Very cool actually! Man was I happy finding a full set of T-51 Power Armor. And X-01 I found too. The Enclave Power Armor. Funny its named X-01 now. But at least they have some build codename.

Oh and I got to the part where I get a BOS II T-60 Power Armor. Looks nice, is it the best of all power armor concerning stats? To be honest I was a little bit disappointed with the design. Why? Mostly looks like a T-45 to me. Maybe with a little bit look of a T-51. Expected more but since I knew it already from the trailer etc it wasnt that much of a let down.

Still wondering if there are X-01 Tesla Armors in the game. Doubt it though. I always loved the Tesla Variations! Also the newer Enclave Armors are missing for me. X-01 were the older ones. Wonder if they in the game. Still try to explore everything mostly without spoilering.

Sorry, I guess I am in a grumpy mood since everyone is enjoying their FO4 except me.

Don't feel bad, Risewild, I too, feel the same way and don't have it yet.

Anyhow, my two little cents worth (it's about all I can afford.. lol)... We all know, through previous Fallout versions and experience, that Bethseda has always lacked regarding the RPG experience. However, that said, Fallout became epic in it's own way by providing something unique regarding the fact there wasn't any existing post-apocalyptic RPG's on the market. Many have high expectations considering how many modders have improved the pre-existing games. You'd think that if modders can improve on those games, that when the next version releases (e.g. FO4) that they'd put a lot more work into the next version to make it.. better. My opinion is that they're more about coming up with ideas, slap it on the market, and bang out a few bucks! This leaves the modding world to pick up the slack. If it weren't for our dedicated fans, the games would still suck.. to a point! The modding community has made the Fallout series more enjoyable in many ways, allowing us to customize what we want to suit our own flavor (within the limitations of the game engines, of course). Considering our current era, technology, software (e.g. java, scripting, etc), our expectations grow higher, especially considering the amount of time Bethseda spends in between games (you'd imagine with that time, they'd be able to create what nobody has before).

I can't agree with you more regarding the frustrations of what this series lacks each time they come out with a new release. However, I'll still invest in the series regardless knowing that we have an awesome modding community that will offer ideas to make it more enjoyable.

Kudos to all the modders out there who work diligently in an effort to make this series more enjoyable and playable!

My comment about the PA wasn't meant to be a good thing. I'm a bit annoyed that you can't take two steps into Boston without finding a spiffy new suit of PA.

I will admit the first time I found PA locked up in a train car I got a little excited! However, Finding PA quickly lost it's thrill after noticing that it was everywhere!!!!! Everyone has it!!!! The BoS have it, (I'll give you that because they should) Raiders have it, (Ok I could give you that if it was only in special situations but it's not).

Giving the player PA just moments after leaving the vault was also such a buzz kill!!! Yes, the new PA models, animations and Hud are cool. I can see why Beth wanted to show them off but really there is just way too much of it and the player gets it way too soon.

I'm having more trouble finding parts for my combat armor then I am for PA.

Paladin Danse goes on and on that one of the big selling points of joining the BoS is that you get your own personal suit of PA. Well I have five already and I probably could have 15 or 20 by now if I bothered to pick them all up.

I'm half expecting to start running into Supermutants, Ghouls and even Dethclaw using PA. Maybe theres a Dogmeat PA in the game. Now, that would be cool!!!

Too much PA? Then don't use it. I've rarely ever used PA in any of the FO games so finding it everywhere and as often as you do really doesn't matter to me. I will admit that it does look pretty cool and the animation to get in and out of it is cool as well. But other than that I have no use for it myself.

You aren't joking chuck. PA is everywhere. A buddy of mine picked up every frame he stumbled across and ended up with a building that looked like this: https://imgur.com/sQG5PWu

There is even a vendor that lets you buy PA frames, one every time the vendor resets, and another vendor that sells random PA pieces.

In FO3 and FNV you spent half the game trying to get PA training and in FO4 they start throwing PA at you 15 minutes into the game. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if Fusion Cores were more rare, but they are everywhere too. In my current (second) play through I have 62 cores and I haven't even been up to visit the BOS elder yet. When you got PA in FO3 you felt like you achieved something, in FO4, not so much.

I'm not using it but this is a thread where we can complain about things we don't like in FO4 and part of my bitch about there being to much PA is that it feels like it's being forced on me. Having to use it to save the Minutemen is just one example.

If I chose to not use it there, would my lvl 1 Char really have a chance when taking on a group of raider and a Deathclaw? Sure I could deal with the raiders but not the deathclaw.

And on that note What about getting a Mini Gun so fast too!!!!

Edit: also in my above post I said I'm having a harder time finding all the parts for my Combat Armor which should be a lot more available then PA.

My two cents. Good things:
* Sea Glow is about 1/3 of Skyrim. As it should be.
* Meeting with son was amazing. I failed (or passed) Turing test. If it was in real, well, I possible would made biggest mistake in life.
* Androids as a plot
* Buildings... Yep, now I am the Batman
* Lots of easter eggs and references to well-known movies, games, books, etc

Bad things. Possibly most things that I did not included into good list. But I did not played much because of low specs of my PC. Most notable:
* Plot and world is not a pure Fallout. There are implemented two plots (Fallout and cylons/androids).
* Borderlands-like items and mobs. I have played too much in Borderlands and now I dislike it :)
* Slavery, hookers? I've not found this. May be missed
* No karma. Yep, Grand Pa eat too much drugs and... nothing? WTF? Where is side effects? Comparing to FO3 and Taloon's Company almost in the begging
* Too many PA or batteries for them
* Sims. Honestly, I don't know why it was implemented in the game about lonely waltdweller...

So, I will be glad if Bethesda would created a game about cylons only. Without Fallout injection. Because there is no such game. IMHO, FO3 was better as RPG, even with broken SPECIAL system.

P.S. Cylons is a reference to Battlestar Galactica, if you don't know that yet.

Honestly I feel like that being so heavily featured without bothering to explain parts of the backstory or motivations of the institute put that firmly in the top of the "Bad things" list. Haven't played the game in nearly a month (and it's only been out a month!) so I may be a bit off the mark with this but here are some of my complaints with "Androids as a plot" specifically:

It's stated at one point that the first Gen synths would ravage anything and everything to get the resources the institute needed to continue to.... build more piles of junk to get more resources? But then you get there and get the "we're good people trying to advance the human race" spill.

How does it make sense that the institute junked Nick, a Gen 2 synth, but they still use a whole trove of first gen?

What's up with the institute body snatching? Nobody anywhere in the game explained to me why the institute needed to build duplicates of the people in the commonwealth and replace said people with said creations. What was the point?

With all my complaints about getting to much PA and getting it to soon, Legendary crap, key binding and other disappointments with FO4 I do have to say that I don't totally hate the game. I can even accept the fact that its not an RPG but more of an Action Adventure game "LOOSELY" based on an RPG. (I use the term "LOOSELY" politely! ) I do get frustrated with the things I don't like and quit, however I find myself coming back to it after a few days. Maybe this is just because I haven't finished the game yet and have only gotten to the fight with Kellogg in the main quest. (Not sure how far that is into it)

I love the world, it does feel small but it's densely packed and Boston is just amazing! (The City it self) Ok! Diamond City is kind of a Megaton in a Baseball Park but I can give that to Beth it's a cool idea for a Post Apocalyptic fort in the middle of a hostel city. I see a lot of potential for modding the world but well you know me. I like to build interiors.

I'm chomping at the bit to get my hands on the GECK so I can start to fix the things I don't like. I know I could use xEdit but I hate using it to mod. For me it's a tool to clean mods or fix errors in mods.

I have a few mods in mind before I start "Beantown Interiors".

Power Armor Reduction,

Minutemen take the PA and MiniGun from the player after finishing the mission. (You did retrieve it for them to help them. they never said you could keep it.)

Remove all Power Cells from loot lists and vendor lists

Remove PA parts from vendor lists

The player can no longer walk or fast travel in PA once the Power Cell is depleted. (If Possible)

Disable all PA found in the world until the player joins the BoS (if step 4 is not Possible or I can't figure out how to do it.)

Reduce the Number of NPC's (Other then BoS) that have and use PA.

Legendary Creatures, NPC and Item Removal

Remove all Legendary Creatures and NPC's from Spawn Lists.

Change all placed Legendary Creatures, NPC's to another tier or Rename them for special cases so the game feels less like Borderlands.

Remove all Legendary items from container and NPC lists.

Remove all legendary items from world (if any)

Crafting Reduction,

Reduce the number of random crafting stations you find around the world to only settlements and populated locations.

remove all, Armor, weapons, PA, chem crafting stations in settlement locations. (There will be workshops and cooking stations but the player should have to build everything they need or want.)

I'm sure I could go on but for me that would be a good start in making the game more enjoyable.

Just finished the story, sided with The Institute. Was not sure though whether to side with the BoS or The Institute.

Ending is a bit disappointing but not bad. Just to short and looks like there are no longer ending scenes of quests or things you have decided. Meh.

Now I run out of quests. There are some locations to explore but most and biggest I have I guess. I hope I still find some interesting stuff. As of now I have seen 3 vaults. Hope they are more. I think I saw some Map marker of a vault next to the Glow. Guess thats my next way.

To be honest I think that Fallout 4 has a little bit less content than FO3 or FNV but especially FO3. I have now 50 hours gametime and I already feel im at my last 10 hours exploring now which is weird. Spent around 100 hours in FO3 without DLCs! Most quests seem to be done too. Not like there is anything left I know of. I even did most of the other factions sidequests. Not all though because at some point you have to decide to side with someone.

Really wonders me. Did I play the game the wrong way? Its not like I rushed or anything. Maybe because I had already experience with Fallout and know how everything works? Well... Once I finished FO4 I may get back to TTW. FO4 is a good game, however, I think FO3 will stay my favorite.

Cant await the announced FO4 DLCs. Also I look forward for mods. There is not that much interesting as of now and because of the Updates they seem to be incompatible sometimes. Guess I will wait with modding FO4.

Change all placed Legendary Creatures, NPC's to another tier or Rename them for special cases so the game feels less like Borderlands.

Remove all Legendary items from container and NPC lists.

Remove all legendary items from world (if any)

I'd probably use that mod (and the PA reduction mod as well). I think it's an OK idea with legendary enemies, but it's rather silly with legendary cockroaches carrying armor, plus I don't think I've ever actually used a single legendary item, so the rewards are pretty much pointless to me. I'd rather have an overhaul, with some enemies having the chance to be legendary (i.e. muties etc) and then them actually having loot that would feel like a reward. Either that or I could go with scrapping it entirely.

Oh, and I'm already drooling over Beantown Interiors.

Postal-Dude wrote:

To be honest I think that Fallout 4 has a little bit less content than FO3 or FNV but especially FO3. I have now 50 hours gametime and I already feel im at my last 10 hours exploring now which is weird. Spent around 100 hours in FO3 without DLCs! Most quests seem to be done too. Not like there is anything left I know of. I even did most of the other factions sidequests. Not all though because at some point you have to decide to side with someone.

I can't really agree with that. I find the world pretty much packed with content actually. But then I'm more for exploring than doing quests generally. But after +125 hours, there are still lots of places I haven't done (and lots of quests as well for that matter).

Something I haven't seen mentioned before(might seem kinda minor, and kinda ties into lore i guess) is the super mutants. I sitll have no inclination to finish the game, so could someone tell me if there is any reason why the damn mutants are just as common as they were in FO3, WHEN VAULT 87 WAS DESTROYED YEARS AGO? Related is the fact that raiders are not organized, and the fact that ferals are EVERYWHERE (compared to NV, where they were only common near areas of heavy radiation). Honestly, a territorial spawns mod would be pretty high up on my list as far as not-directly-gameplay-relevant mods go.

I never played FO4 but I asked that question before and the answer I got was: "There is no explanation in game for why the SM exist in so much number in Boston".

My question was something like this:

"I heard there are suicide bomber Super Mutants in FO4 and I also heard that Super Mutants are EVERYWHERE in that game. Is there any in-game explanation for how did the SM reached Boston and how their numbers are so large if they can't reproduce, have no access to FEV, keep getting killed and keep also killing THEMSELVES by exploding for no damn good reason?"

I also thought it would be more logical if SM were driven away from the Capital Wasteland by the BoS, the ywould probably go to The Pitt than Boston... Because the FO3 SM seem to be attracted by highly radiated places (The Pitt radiated Rivers are super radiated by what we learn in The Pitt DLC) and The Pitt is way, WAY closer than Boston.

I played through F4 once already, maybe seeing something like 90 percent of the content. There is a lot of content in the game, I have to admit.

I was able to find in-game evidence (a locked down FEV lab facility even) that the Institute has been performing some involuntary human experiments with their own brand of modified FEV, some of the resulting super mutants were then released or escaped into the Commonwealth wasteland. However, this alone does not explain the large population of super mutants in the Commonwealth area, that much is obvious.

To find a plausible explanation for F4 super mutant population numbers we need to dig a little deeper into the previous games and perhaps read between the lines a bit; Keeping in mind Fallout 3s Capital Wasteland, Vault 87 has been converting human captives into east coast version of the super mutants for almost two centuries already (in other words; total number of east coast supermutants created at V87 may be surprisingly big) when F3 game started. Not all or perhaps not even most of the resulting V87 mutants would have chosen to stay in the Capital Wasteland their whole unnaturally long lives, two centuries is a long time for various supermutant splinter groups to spread all over the surrounding regions (including the Commonwealth) for many kinds of reasons.

As for an explanation for supermutant suicide bombers, as seen in F3 already, the east coast FEV results in comparatively more mental instability and stupidity than the Masters modified/improved west coast version of FEV. Most west coast muties are notably less smart than human average for sure, but for many east coast supermutants the correct technical term is 'total nutcase' I'd guess.

Virgil had been making Super Mutants for ten years based on the same version of FEV found at Mariposa (the FEV that existed before The Great War). The Commonwealth Super Mutants are definitely smarter than the Vault 87 Super Mutants (based on their dialog), and there are clues found in different SM strongholds that suggest they are as intelligent as Marcus. Part of the reason Virgil smashed the lab and escaped is because no one would explain why they kept making Super Mutants, since they had no scientific value. They Institute Directorate first approved FEV research in 2178, so they may have been making Super Mutants for a century before Virgil even started working there.

It sounds like a desperate attempt by Bethesda to explain the presence of Super Mutants.

Keep in mind that just about all of the commonwealth mutants are exhibiting behavioral patterns similar to V87 supermutants, such as decorating their territory with meatbags and human remains. Less insane/slightly smarter individual super mutants do exist on the east coast too, but they are rare exceptions to the rule (like Strong in F4 or Fawkes in F3).. now compare Commonwealth super mutant habitats to the Jacobstown we see in FNV, note the differences in the level of civilization.

The original FEV version does indeed create the insane rage monsters like we see on the east coast. Note that in Fallout 1, the Master did not use the original FEV version, he modified and improved it, made his own master race version of the FEV. Also part of the reason why the Master sent out his army to find 'prime normals', humans completely untainted by the original FEV (such as isolated vault dwellers) - When there is no original flawed FEV (and no FEV antibodies) to hinder the conversion process, Masters FEV gets the best results with the least possible loss of cognitive capabilities and the highest chance of the experimental subject surviving the conversion.

IMHO it makes little or no sense that the institute would have been experimenting with the original pre-war (obviously flawed) FEV version for a whole century or more and not modify/improve it in any way, but this is what F4 basically tells us, I think. If indeed commonwealth supermutants are somehow smarter than V87 supermutants on the average, it is not much of a difference. In fact, if commonwealth has a mix of V87 and institute origin supermutants, it might be just about impossible to tell them apart.

True it makes no sense that they wouldn't have improved on the FEV given their resources but I would also say it makes no sense for them to be experimenting with it at all. They seem focused on creating synthetic life that is superior to human so why even bother with the FEV in the first place?

I may have missed something in the terminal entries but it seems like the Institute would be the last people to care about the FEV since they have worked so hard creating realistic robotic replicas as soldiers.

The Institute is organized into a cell-like structure, where each 'department' is free to perform their research as they best see fit, as long as it does not negatively impact any of the other Institute departments or the Institute as a whole - There is practically no oversight regarding damage (collateral or otherwise) to non-institute settlements or people. I think it is likely that the FEV Lab was an entire department of it's own, which got permanently shut down and put into security lockdown after Virgil rebelled and escaped, this would make a certain kind of sense, sure..

What indeed does not make any sense is why would the Institute Director allow - even demand - that the FEV experimentation (with the original raw FEV only) on involuntary human subjects would continue decade after decade .. So far, I've been unable to find any logical explanation for this, other than the Institute Director being quite insane.

Leveling up is so anticlimactic! This may just be me but I find myself not even bothering to go and pick a new perk or special when I level up. In previous games I would be excited and plan what I was going to do with the points and anticipate the next perk, In FO4 it's just one point to spend and spending that point kind of feels like cheating.

Sneak Perk!!!! Level 2 disables mines and level 3 disables traps for the sneak char. This makes no sense to me. in previous games this was it's own perk. "Light Foot" if I remember correctly. (I never took it because I always thought it make the game to easy) Thankfully there is already a mod to fix this.

The encounter system!!!! This also makes no sense to me! You can run into some "Gunners" start a fight then suddenly be attacked by a Deathclaw or a hoard of Ghouls at the same time. (only a random example) It seems the random encounters are designed to just throw enemies at the player without any logic.

Deathclaws!!! They were the most frightening enemy in the previous games now they seem to be glorified molerats. (maybe this is because I have modded out the LEGENDARY encounters but they show up in odd places as stated above and are just such wimps.)

The Dialog system!!! I know I've bitched about this before but the more I play the more I hate it!!! This could just be me but once in a dialog it should you should not be able to break it and it shouldn't be broken by a sudden attack! Also when trying to talk to followers or even npc's you click talk they walk away so you have to move in to get it going and boom you said something you didn't intend or missed part of the conversation!

Dialog system part 2!!! When in Dialog the radio should mute or at least fade out a bit. Also random NPC's should shut the fuck up so you can follow the conversation without interruption.

Don't get me wrong I in no way hate the game and am enjoying it even with all of it's flaws. I still have yet to finish it because I keep starting over. (this is not the games fault it's me and how I tend to play new games, I get a feel for them in a test play or two then start a real play with a build or style that fits me.)